Thunderbirds Fall to Rockers 4-2

WINSTON-SALEM, NC-

The Carolina Thunderbirds threw everything but the kitchen sink at Motor City Rockers' goaltender Trevor Babin, but his 45 saves and his teams' timely offense outlasted for a 4-2 victory in the second of a three game set.

The sixth of seven meetings between the division rivals was as heated as the previous six. Physical, tight checking, not much room for either team to work with offensively. 

Declan Conway put a puck home in the first three minutes of the game, and the Rockers limited Carolina's chances to carry a 1-0 lead into the second.

Mario Cavaliere was injured down the stretch of the first, and Boris Babik entered the net in relief, doing all he could to keep Carolina in the game. After Roman Gaudet doubled the lead for Motor City early in the second, Babik made a series of huge stops to give the Thunderbirds life. 

Matthew Bazarin made the most of it, smashing home a rebound between the wickets of Babin to cut the Rockers lead in half. The Thunderbirds didn't stop there in the second, as Gus Ford fed Josh Koepplinger beautifully on the backdoor to tie the game. Ford's assists on both goals bring him just one point shy of 100 for the season.

The game trekked on, staying tied, tight and physical through the rest of the second and the first half of the third. A turnover by Carolina's Justin Bioni in front of his own net led to a Rockers goal from Scott Coash that ended up being the game winner. Jameson Milam added an insurance marker on the power play late.

The two teams will wrap up their season series tomorrow afternoon at 4:05.